Scott Schneider stays warm Monday, Jan. 6, 2014, at the Apostolic Pentecostals of Rockford church. Schneider suffered frostbite twice from sleeping outside during previous winters. He has been at the church since Saturday, Jan. 4.

March 25, 2014
10:10 a.m.

ROCKFORD — The city has closed a church’s overnight warming shelter, and it has become national news.The Rev. Dave Frederick of Apostolic Pentecostals of Rockford Church, 840 Mattis Ave., said he may fight the city’s order that would prevent the shelter from reopening next winter.“I think a church has the right to let someone sleep on a pew,” said Frederick.This winter, one of the coldest in memory, the church shuttled homeless men and women from downtown to the southeast Rockford church on nights the temperature was below 30 degrees. They slept in the sanctuary. The bus would bring them back downtown in the morning, weather permitting. The church’s program began Nov. 1 and was supposed to end Feb. 28. The city allowed the shelter to operate until March 10, he said. The Rockford Register Star wrote about the shelter in January.But the shelter was operating without proper permits, according to the city. The city issued a news release in response to a story posted on the Huffington Post website that Rockford Mayor Larry Morrissey said was inaccurate.The city worked with the church six weeks on improvements that would allow the church to get a special use permit to run the shelter. They included better screening of guests to insure that the environment was safe and developing an emergency plan to evacuate the church in the event of a fire.“The church’s good intentions and the severe winter our homeless population suffered through over the past three months was taken into consideration as we worked through the ordinance requirements and attempted to coach them towards compliance,” said Todd Cagnoni, director of the city’s Community and Economic Development Department.Frederick said fire sprinklers were among the issues at the church.“We have church there and we don’t have sprinklers,” Frederick said. “All the things they were saying we couldn’t do, (but) we can still conduct church services. It’s kind of weird, really.”Frederick said the city told him he needed C-4 zoning and needed a license to operate as a mission. But he said the church wasn’t operating as a mission, only as a temporary warming shelter to make sure homeless people had a warm place to sleep on cold nights.Frederick said in an email last week that people are sleeping in abandoned buildings, in parks, under bridges and other places where there are no sprinklers. “A building without sprinklers is much better than where they were staying,” Frederick said.Frederick said maybe the answer would be to open the church to all-night prayer meetings.“If someone falls asleep, then they fall asleep,” he said.

Rockford, IL - On January 27, 2014 the City of Rockford Fire Department responded to an emergency medical call at the Apostolic Pentecostals of Rockford Church, located at 840 Mattis Avenue and became aware that the church building was being used as an overnight homeless shelter.

Member of the Apostolic Pentecostals of Rockford Church had voluntarily opened their church facility as a night shelter for area homeless when temperatures were regularly below freezing this winter. Church members transported homeless individuals from the Winnebago County Justice Center, a 24-hour warming center, to the church for an evening meal and would allow them to sleep at the church.

Upon learning that the church had begun a ministry for the homeless, the city began working with the church to advise them on the proper steps to take to establish a shelter at this location. The church often housed 50 individuals a night many of whom slept on the pews or on the floor: overnight guests had not been screened by offense types to insure that the environment was safe; and the church did not have the proper emergency plan in place to manage an evacuation in the event of a fire.

Representatives from the Rockford Fire Department and the Community and Economic Development Department engaged in conversations with church representatives through February and March to educate the ministry on the steps needed to resolve the life-safety issues and to apply for the needed Special Use Permit (SUP) to become a homeless shelter.

After six-week of discussion with city officials, when the church had failed to complete the required steps to comply with the SUP, the city requested that they cease operations. At this time, the church has discontinued the shelter as they work to conform to city ordinances.

“City staff worked closely with the church ministry to guide them in the process of applying for the needed permits. The church’s good intentions and the severe winter our homeless population suffered through over the past three months was taken into consideration as we worked through the ordinance requirements and attempted to coach them towards compliance,” stated Community and Economic Development Department Head Todd Cagnoni.

The City of Rockford Human Services Department in conjunction with the Rockford/Boone/Winnebago Continuum of Care and its various agencies that serve the homeless met with persons staying at the church to evaluate their circumstances and arrange for needed services and housing options. The Rockford Rescue Mission also participated in the outreach and confirmed that they did have space available during this time for single men and reached out to the church to notify them of that fact. Many of the individuals that were housed at the church did choose to utilize the resources of the Rockford Rescue Mission and are presently housed with the Mission.